海角大神

At first, Melody Moezzi felt welcomed 鈥� wanted, even. There was the Research Triangle, with a thriving biotech industry, or Charlotte, emerging as a global banking hub, or Asheville, with its sense of counterculture cool.

North Carolina was going to be the Pole Star in the constellation of a New South 鈥� a place where sweet tea and progressive politics would lead to a bright future. President Obama winning the state in 2008 was just the beginning.

Now, she just feels betrayed.

鈥淏oth personally and politically, it鈥檚 a feeling of intense helplessness 鈥� like no聽matter how loudly I yell, no one hears me,鈥� says Ms. Moezzi, who moved to North Carolina in 2012, in an email. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like being real and knowing that you鈥檙e real, but being told by everyone in power that you鈥檙e merely a hallucination.鈥�

What Moezzi has seen is a dramatic political about-face. Since Republicans took over the state legislature in 2010, critics say, they have essentially instituted one-party rule through dramatic gerrymandering and staked a claim as a leading opponent to the Obama administration in America鈥檚 culture wars.

To historians, the shift can be as seen as another ripple in North Carolina鈥檚 partisan history, in which Republicans are paying Democrats back in kind for decades of political skullduggery.

But for Moezzi and other relative newcomers, it feels like the ultimate bait-and-switch. The state that only a few years ago seemed to them a beacon of fresh center-left thinking now has been rated by the nonpartisan Election Integrity Project as roughly equal to Sierra Leone and Iran when it comes to government doing the public鈥檚 bidding.

In that way, North Carolina offers a unique portrait of America鈥檚 hyperpartisan divide 鈥� a state shot through with large patches of deep blue voters who feel increasingly disenfranchised by a deeply red legislature. Those frustrations continue to simmer with a steady stream of peaceful protests and arrests, often connected with the progressive Moral Monday movement.

A broader backlash?

The question is whether that discontent kindles more broadly. There are signs that it might. Last month, Gov. Pat McCrory (R) lost his reelection bid, with many blaming his support for the 鈥渂athroom bill鈥� that, in addition to mandating that transgender people use the restroom that matches the sex on their birth certificate, prevented cities from offering lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender citizens equal rights.

Yet since that loss, Republicans have gone further in two legislative special sessions. In the first, they revoked key powers form the governorship before the Democratic governor-elect takes over. And in the second, they failed to repeal the bathroom bill despite calling the special session explicitly to do so.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not as if anything going on in North Carolina has not happened in the US before, and it鈥檚 really not about what鈥檚 happening but how it鈥檚 happening, and the way it鈥檚 being talked about,鈥� says Kevin Rogers, a political scientist at William Peace University in Raleigh. 鈥淏ut there are a lot of folks, including conservatives, who are paying attention and wondering: Is this really the way we want things to go?鈥�

While only one-third of North Carolinians are registered Republicans (fewer than are registered Democrats), the party now holds nearly 3 of every 4 state legislative seats. A federal court has ordered the state to redraw 28 legislative districts by spring, to be followed by new elections next fall.

The state had the lowest score (7 out of 100) in the history of the Election Integrity Project when it came to having uncompetitive political districts.

"That North Carolina can no longer call its elections democratic is shocking enough, but our democratic decline goes beyond what happens at election time," wrote Andrew Reynolds, a University of North Carolina political scientist in a controversial聽in the Charlotte News & Observer, assessing the degree to which the exercise of power depends on the will of the people. "The extent to which North Carolina now breaches these principles means our state government can no longer be classified as a full democracy."

University of North Carolina political scientist Pamela Conover has seen anecdotal evidence 鈥� in her own home 鈥� of the growing concern.

鈥淢y mother is outraged because what鈥檚 happening doesn鈥檛 seem like fair play. And I think for people who are not rabid partisans, there鈥檚 a sense that Republicans have jumped the shark in terms of taking partisan activities to an extreme,鈥� she says.

'False advertising'

Those concerns are even greater among many who came to North Carolina based on its image a decade ago. With the help of corporations like IBM and SAS, the historically agricultural state sold itself as an emerging Southern dynamo. Workers flooded in from around the country and the world.

鈥淚 do feel like we were victims of false advertising when we moved to North Carolina,鈥� says Moezzi, who came to Raleigh via Atlanta. 鈥淲e knew that Obama had won North Carolina in 2008, and we considered that an indication that we were headed to a more progressive state, part of a moderate New South where people like me could feel welcome. We were also encouraged by all the universities 鈥� especially the biotech sector.鈥�

To Dr. Reynolds, the British-born UNC professor, North Carolina can serve as an 鈥渆arly warning system鈥� for the entire country.

鈥淚f this trajectory continues, we are going to be in more and more trouble,鈥� he says.

The answer, he adds, is to look inward. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to look into our own souls and start addressing our own problems before we reach a point where we can鈥檛 call ourselves a vibrant democracy.鈥�